SPRINGFIELD – A 38-year-old city man lost his life on Bay Street as he walked to get cigarettes early Saturday morning, shot by a teenage gunman who had been attending a birthday party, neighbors said.

Police on Saturday morning could not be reached to confirm the account. WWLP-Channel 22 reported that the victim was 38-years-old, and a 16-year-old boy had been arrested. The shooting happened in the area of 305 Bay St., next to the apartment block where the man lived, according to a neighbor.

Neighbor Lila Acevedo, who lives next door to 305 Bay St., said there was a crowd of people in the street, spilling out from a party at 294 Bay St., who were making a lot of noise. She said she saw her neighbor gunned down as he walked past the crowd.

“I heard a commotion and saw people fighting. I looked out and I saw my neighbor hit the floor,” Acevedo said.

“He was a dad, a husband, a great man. He was going to buy cigarettes. He was an awesome person and he was an innocent bystander,” Acevedo said.

She said she knew him only as “Tony,” but said he was pleasant and never bothered anyone. He often would be seen with his 3-year-old son, or walking his pitbull, she said. Acevedo said the man’s wife told her he had gone out to purchase cigarettes.

“This is really scary,” said Acevedo, who said she has only been living in her apartment for three months, and this happened.

Acevedo said she thinks the shooter was trying to hit more than one person. She saw him walking up and down the street with the gun in his hand.

Brenda Herrera, of 294 Bay St., said she is distraught over what happened. She had a birthday party for her 18-year-old daughter and tried to shut it down before 11 p.m., but said the kids started it up again. Herrera said the boy who was arrested told her inside the house that he wanted to kill someone.

She said he went outside and “started shooting everything.”

“I don’t want to do another party at my house again in my life,” Herrera said.

Herrera said she served only soda and juice. She said her daughter knew the shooter.

Another neighbor, Liz Wills-Ogilvie, who lives on Dartmouth Street, said she was asleep when the sound of fighting woke her up. The shooting happened around 2 a.m., according to media reports.

She called 911 about the noise. Right after she hung up she heard the gunshots.

“It was like the wild, wild west,” Wills-Ogilvie said.

Wills-Ogilvie said she grabbed her 3-year-old son and they went into the bathroom until she heard the shooting stop. She said people from the party were running all over the street, and some even ran into her yard. She estimates she heard at least 10 gunshots.

“It’s just so sad these young people don’t value their lives . . . It’s so disheartening. Guns are just out of control,” Wills-Ogilvie said. “If we want our city to change we’ve got to get a handle on it.”